"How to Steal Like an Artist"

Someone sent me this link a few days ago, or else I saw a reference to it.  I've lost track.  But, this is worth reading.  Please do.

How to Steal Like an Artist (and 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me) by Austin Kleon

Tribute to Judy Hopkins

Last month a long-time friend from Alaska, Judy Hopkins, passed away.  I first met Judy in 1985.  She was  an enthusiastic and energetic member of Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters, the local guild.  In 1986 Judy was named Alaska state winner of the Great American Quilt Contest (the "Liberty Contest").  Around that time, she began teaching quilting classes in Anchorage.  I had been quilting about 15 years by that time, but mostly traditional quilts.  In 1986, at Judy's urging (she actually handed the entry form to me), I entered one of my quilts in Quilt National and was accepted!  My quilt, These Raindrops Are Rosie's Fault, became part of Quilt National '87 because of Judy's encouragement.

These Raindrops Are Rosie's Fault by Bonnie Bucknam, shown in

Creative American Quilting, a Better Homes and Gardens book published in 1989

Judy's enthusiasm and ability to think outside the box got many of us in Anchorage to start making non-traditional quilts.  When she was writing  One-of-a-Kind Quilts in 1988, her assignment to me was to make a "Bonnie Bucknam-style" quilt using her formula.  At that point, I didn't know I had a style.  But at Judy's urging, I created a quilt that was eventually used on the cover of the book. 

Paradise2 by Bonnie Bucknam

Judy taught improvisation classes in the late '80's and early 90's.  She had us turning blocks in wonky directions, cutting without a pattern, and adding what she called "coping strips" to fit everything together. Although she returned to traditional quilts herself, she was an impetus for many of the early art quilters in Alaska. Our lives were changed because we knew her.

My friend Rosie Huntemann writes:

Quilters everywhere lost a friend when Judy Hopkins passed away March 9, 2011. In the 1980’s, she asked a group of Anchorage quilters to make quilts for her soon to be published book, One-of-a-Kind Quilts. We had specific assignments, but were able to incorporate our own unique ideas. This was the first of 18 quilt books Judy either wrote or co-wrote. She did her magic with rotary cutting techniques, inventing tools for using up scraps. We can thank Judy for inspiring us to design our own art quilts.

Judy was an organized, witty woman. We will all miss her friendship, expertise and her big, Alaskan smile.


To read Judy's obituary in the Anchorage Daily News, click here.

Handwerk Vending at Clark County Quilters Annual Show this Weekend

Hi all
I'll be a vendor at Clark County Quilters 36th Annual Quilt Show this weekend.  I have lots of hand-dyed fabric and hand-dyed vintage table linens.  The show is today, Friday and Saturday, 10am to 5pm, at
Vancouver Church of Christ
9019 NE 86th Street
Vancouver WA
It's an easy location to find.  Take the Padden Parkway exit off the 205 Freeway and head east.  You'll see the big church to the left.  Turn in on 94th Ave to get to the church parking lot.  There are about 25 vendors and over 200 quilts, so come look around!

Version 2 by Bonnie Bucknam

"What Remains" at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum

Last weekend I went to La Conner with two friends from the Vancouver/Washougal area.  Cathy Erickson's show, What Remains, opened at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum, and we went for the opening.

It's been such a cold spring here in Washington, all the flowers are late blooming.  It was supposed to be tulip festival time in La Conner, but we didn't see even a peep of a tulip.

There were some daffodils blooming near La Conner. 

Cathy Erickson with one of her quilts in the exhibit, What Remains

What Remains is a show of quilts and photography by Cathy Erickson and poetry by Margaret Chula.  To quote the museum's website:

In the 1940’s over 120,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned in internment camps. From the newborn baby to the aging grandfather, all their lives were changed dramatically. Now only photos, stories, and rock rubble remain of the time. The art quilts and poetry in this series attempt to capture the spirit of what remains over sixty years later.


You can read more about the show on the Museum website, or on the websites of the artists, Cathy Erickson and Margaret Chula.
 

Stopover in Vancouver

I’m here in Portland for a visit with Bonnie and brought two unfinished tops started by the Soup Group – Joan, ClaraJo, Emiko and me. With help from Bonnie’s fabric stash I have finished both of them. Bonnie made two backs so they are ready for quilting. See Blue Tuesday and Crossroads below.

Blue Tuesday

Pat with Crossroads

We took a beautiful drive up the Columbia River, visited the Maryhill Museum, walked the dogs, shopped, had Asian cuisine , knitted and sewed.  We saw High Fiber Diet's latest show at Trinity Church in Portland.  Another PERFECT visit!

Signs of Spring at Trinity Church in Portland

A five-patch inspired by Malissia Pettway 1940’s “Nine Patch”, (Gee’s Bend: The Women and Their Quilts, pg 236) is under construction in purples and yellows, and I just finished machine quilting another Guatemala Bound quilt, Parfait, sewn by Susan and me.

Pat quilting Parfait

Time to iron.
Pat

Maude Kerns Art Center & Gallery, Eugene

My friend Mary and I took a drive down to Eugene, Oregon, yesterday to see our quilts at the Maude Kerns Art Center.  It was a great day.  We had all kinds of weather, from pouring rain, to hail, to sunny blue skies.  The gallery is located on the university campus in an old renovated church.  

The show, Fiber2 (really Fiber "squared" or to the 2nd power - I can't insert the correct character here) consisted of High Fiber Diet's Bird's Eye View show plus two exhibits by the Eugene fiber group Loosely Bound.  The local public radio station, KLCC, did a review of the show on February 27, 2011. Click here to hear the review.  Click on the Maude Kerns line near the top of the listings.

The gallery has a small gift shop with lots of unique items, many by the artists showing in the gallery.  In one corner they made a nice exhibit of my quilts, paintings and books.  Mary's collage cards are on the rack.

This grouping is small quilts made by the Loosely Bound artists.  What a great way to display small works.  Each was mounted on an 8" x 8" wooden cradle board that had been painted black.  The unity of color and the mounting technique really pulled together these works by different artists.  Each work was for sale individually, and the work I saw was priced from $50 to $75. 

The show is worth seeing and is up for only a few more days, until March 25th.  Do try to stop by if you are in the area.

Palm Desert

I just returned home from a week in the desert, Palm Desert.  I visited my sister, and we drove down to Oceanside and San Diego to see the Visions Exhibit and the show at the Visions Gallery.  Great work and worth the drive.  The desert was beautiful, slightly green since it rained last week.  That's the Salton Sea you can see shining in the distance in the upper right of the photo.

We visited The Living Desert, the Palm Desert zoo.  They have quite a few desert animals and animals from Africa.  You actually can feed the giraffes if you get there right at 10 am.

There are two aviaries you can walk through and also a walk-through butterfly exhibit.

There are lots of odd desert plants and trees in the gardens.

The big arts festival in La Quinta was last week as well.  There are well over 100 vendors - closer to 200 I would guess - showing quality artwork.  American Style Magazine voted La Quinta the 6th best art/craft fair in the country.  It's easy to see why.  The park is shady and beautiful with green grass, water fountains and pools. 

I went to the meeting of the Coachella Valley Quilt Guild and participated in a little quilt show at my sister's condo association.  I met lots of Linda's quilting friends, many from the Portland area!  So now I'm back in the rain with more to come this week.  The ground is saturated here.  Several trees fell in Sunday's wind storm.  The roots can't hang on so well when the ground is so soggy.  We're still waiting for spring.